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ELECTING AN

NTEREST

NVENTORY

Which interest inventory to use in career counseling depends to some extent on the

age of the client and the resources of the counseling agency. Younger clients (e.g.,

freshmen and sophomores in high school) may not have interests that are suffi-

ciently well developed to have differentiated scores on occupational scales such as

those that appear on the SII or CISS. For younger clients, then, the most useful in-

formation probably will come from higher order scales such as those found on Hol-

land’s SDS or the Orientation scales of the CISS or General Occupational Themes of

the SII. For older high school students, college students, and adults, scales that

measure interests relative to specific occupations (i.e., the Occupational scales on

the SII and CISS) will be useful.

The SDS is one of the more economical interest inventories available to con-

sumers primarily because the instrument can be self-scored. Instruments such as

the CISS and SII, which have a multitude of scores as well as interpretive com-

ments presented on the profile, must be machine scored, which increases the

price of these instruments. The trade-off, then, is the reasonable cost of the SDS

versus the more detailed information provided by the CISS and SII.

REPARING TO

NTEREST

NVENTORIES

To prepare to use interest inventories, counselors should study the inventory’s

manual. Typically, test manuals include information on the purpose of the inven-

tory and provide an overview of the testing materials. Most manuals describe the

way in which the scales were constructed, normed, and standardized; report evi-

dence of reliability and validity; note inventory limitations; and offer suggestions

for the use and interpretation of the scale scores. The manual also will provide in-

formation that helps the counselor to know what the scale names mean and what

scores are considered high, average, or low.

DMINISTERING AN

NTEREST

NVENTORY

Interest inventories may be administered either individually or in group set-

tings. The most popular method still is the traditional paper-and-pencil format,

but computer-administered versions also are available. Regardless of the admin-

istration format or setting, a standardized introduction should be given to orient

the client to the testing expectations. In addition, for clients who may have diffi-

culty understanding the items, it generally is permissible to provide them with

definitions or explanations to ensure that they understand the items.

REPARING TO

NTERPRET AN

NTEREST

NVENTORY

Before meeting with the client to interpret the test results, it is very useful for the

counselor to review the profile. This review should include checking validity in-

dexes that may indicate some problem with the test administration or client’s re-

sponses and examining the profile for patterns of interests that emerge across

various sets of scales. In addition to providing an assessment of work-related in-

terests, interest inventories also often tap leisure interests and preferences for

various types of work, recreational activities, and living environments. There-

fore, as the counselor prepares for the interpretation session, it is useful to think

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Assessment of Interests 297

broadly about the ways in which a client may satisfy the interests that are re-

ported on the interest inventory profile. During the session, clients then can be

encouraged to think about ways in which they can integrate their interests into a

composite that allows them to satisfy their interests across the many roles in their

lives (e.g., worker, family member, leisurite, friend, volunteer; Hansen, 2000).

NTERPRETING AN

NTEREST

NVENTORY

Interest inventories help clients to identify their interests in an efficient manner,

and during the interpretation session the scores are used to stimulate discussion

about occupations and activities that match their interests. The results also pro-

vide a framework for stimulating discussion about options that clients may not

have considered in the past and about ways in which some interests may be better

satisfied through leisure or volunteer activities than through the world of work.

The client-counselor interaction and exchange, in turn, is used to verify working

hypotheses (Watkins, 2000).

While it may be tempting to view test interpretation as a discrete activity

within career counseling, research has shown that college student clients tend to

recall very little about the specific profile results reported to them one year ear-

lier (Hansen, Kozberg, & Goranson, 1994). Therefore, it is important that test re-

sult interpretations are integrated into the overall counseling process.

The counselor needs to be knowledgeable about the meaning of scale scores to

provide the client with accurate information about the results and to convey the

nuances of the results. Understanding the nuts and bolts of test construction as

well as knowing the evidence of reliability and validity for an instrument provides

a necessary foundation for proper test interpretation. However, counseling skills

also are required for interpreting test results, and common intervention tech-

niques such as establishing rapport, developing a positive working alliance, and

providing a safe and supportive atmosphere are just as important during test in-

terpretation as during any other counseling session (V. L. Campbell, 2000). Com-

munication skills also are important. Throughout the process, the counselor is

striving to facilitate the client’s active involvement in understanding the results

and relating them to the goals of counseling. In subsequent counseling sessions,

clients often find it useful to return to their profiles to refresh their memory, clar-

ify results, and generally integrate the test scores with the exploration process

and their counseling goals.

ASIC

TEPS FOR

NTERPRETING AN

NTEREST

NVENTORY

Although counselors will want to develop their own style for interpreting interest

inventories—one that blends test interpretation with their theoretical approach to

counseling interventions and to career development and decision making—there

are several basic steps that can be incorporated into most interpretations. The order

of these steps certainly can be changed to individualize the counseling process, but

the following steps offer one format frequently used by counselors:

1. Review the purpose for taking the inventory and looking at the results.

2. Ask for any reactions the client may have had to taking the inventory.

3. Remind the client that interest inventories do not measure abilities.

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4. Ask if the client can predict two or three high scores—usually for the

scales that measure the Holland types.

5. Briefly describe how the scale scores were derived.

6. Explain the way in which the scales are normed and standardized and de-

scribe the sample to which the client is being compared.

7. Explain the meaning of numerical scores and interpretive comments.

8. Describe what the scales mean and give an example of one or two items on

the scale.

9. Ask the client for reactions to the scores (i.e., How accurate is the picture

that the scores paint for the client?).

10. Ask clients to clarify how they satisfy each of their interests (e.g., work,

recreation, social activities) and encourage integration of the results with

past and current activities to help understand the results.

11. Look for patterns across the profile and ponder ways in which interests in

various activities might be combined into a job or career.

12. Identify additional related educational or occupational possibilities not re-

ported on the profile that might also satisfy the client’s interests.

13.

Develop a plan with the client for the next steps to take in the career explo-

ration process.

14. Ask the client to summarize the results at the end of the session and allow

time to discuss any misunderstandings.

RESPONSIBLE USE OF TESTS

Most test publishers require test purchasers to verify their educational back-

ground, training, and experience and sell interest inventories only to those who are

qualified. Generally, a master’s degree, including coursework in psychological

testing and measurement, is the minimum requirement. Effective use and interpre-

tation of interest inventories also require training in current testing issues such as

the effect of sex differences on interest scores and interpretation; the fair use of in-

terest inventories with diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural groups; and privacy and

confidentiality of test results. Most test publishers have made concerted efforts

to ensure that the basic elements of interest inventories—the items—are relevant

for most test takers. These efforts include revising items so that the wording does

not suggest in any way that some activities or occupations are not appropri

ate for

all groups and constructing scales that reflect activities that appeal to multiple

groups. In addition, efforts have been made to collect evidence of validity for test

scores for diverse populations and to better understand the nature of differences in

interests between women and men and among various cultural groups. Nonethe-

less, counselors still need to be aware that cultural background and contextual

variables may have an impact on test results.

IFFERENCES IN

NTERESTS

Sex differences in interests have been studied throughout the history of interest

measurement, and the results of these studies have guided inventory development.

Women and men do report differential levels of interests in some areas—most no-

tably, women express more Artistic and Social interests, and men express more Re-

alistic and Investigative interests. Some have suggested that the differences in

interest between women and men will disappear as the barriers to occu

pational

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entry in nontraditional occupations fall. However, studies that have examined sex

differences in interests at both the item and scale score level over a 50-year period

suggest that gender differences in interests are very stable and robust (Hansen,

1988).

E. K. Strong (1943) was among the first to attempt to develop combined-sex oc-

cupational scales. However, he concluded (as have many researchers following in

his footsteps) that separate-sex scales were more effective for counseling. This

conclusion is especially true for the use of interest inventories with women or

men who have interests that are nontraditional for their sex (e.g., women who are

interested in farming and men who are interested in clerical work; Hansen,

1982). Nonetheless, some interest inventories do report scores that are based only

on combined-sex samples.

Another strategy used by test publishers to reduce sex bias in interest inven-

tories occurs at the item level. Language that infers that a job or activity is ap-

propriate for only one sex or the other has been eliminated from extant inventory

items (as well as the interpretive materials). For some interest inventories, new

items have been developed that have similar appeal to women and men to re-

place items that were more stereotypic for one sex or the other. In spite of efforts

to develop sex-fair interest inventories, within the broad career counseling con-

text, women and men still may feel restricted in their occupational and educa-

tional choices and, therefore, may need support and encouragement from their

counselors to explore broadly. (See Betz, Chapter 11, this volume, for a detailed

discussion of the role of gender in career development.)

ULTURAL

IFFERENCES IN

NTERESTS

The relevance of interests across cultures has been examined most often by

looking statistically at the relations among Holland’s interest types across

racial-ethnic groups. Several large-scale studies using the SII and the UNIACT

show that the intercorrelations among the six types fit Holland’s circular model

for African American, Asian American, Native American, Mexican American,

and Caucasian participants (Fouad, Harmon, & Borgen, 1997). This suggests

that inventories based on Holland’s RIASEC model have validity for diverse

populations. Nonetheless, the use of interest inventories with racial, ethnic, and

culturally diverse clients may be enhanced if counselors strive to understand

the values and attitudes of other cultures and are aware of their own values

as well as possible biases and stereotypes. Most of the studies exploring

the usefulness of interest inventories with ethnic and racial groups have been

concurrent validity studies used to assess the extent to which scores on the

profiles predict occupational entry or choice of a college major. Generally,

American Indian, African American, Asian American, and Latina/Latino stu-

dents score high on scales representing the occupations or college majors they

have chosen at about the same rate as Anglo American students (about 70%).

The Latina/Latino students have the highest match between score and choice

(75%), and American Indians have the lowest match (about 56%, which still

considerably exceeds chance hit rate expectations of about 28%; Hansen &

Haverkamp, 1986; Haviland & Hansen, 1987; Holland, 1997).

One concern with most interest inventories is that the scales are constructed

using samples composed primarily of Anglo Americans. Ideally, then, norma-

tive

data would be made available by the publisher for various racial, ethnic, and

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cul

tural groups. The reality, however, is that this goal is rarely achieved. In lieu of

these data, good counseling practice is very important. Another concern is that

most interest inventories are administered in English. Clients who do not speak

English, or for whom English may be a second language, may not understand the

meanings or nuances of some items or the labels for some scales. The best practice

for counselors is to collaborate with clients to gain an understanding of cultural

influences and, at the same time, to be aware of individual differences that may

have an impact on the career decision-making process and career choices. (See

Worthington, Flores, & Navarro, Chapter 10, this volume, for a detailed discus-

sion of career development of people of color.)

SSUES OF

RIVACY AND

ONFIDENTIALITY

Maintaining client confidentiality is just as important in the use and interpreta-

tion of interest inventories as it is in other testing situations or in personal

counseling. This means that procedures should be in place for protecting an in-

dividual’s right to privacy. Test data should not be revealed to others without

the written consent of the client or the client’s legal guardian. Issues of confi-

dentiality can be especially tricky when the career counselor is employed by the

client’s employer. Under these circumstances, the counselor needs to discuss is-

sues of privacy with the employer and the client to ascertain in advance (1) how

test results will be used, (2) any limits on confidentiality, and (3) the need for

informed consent. In addition, systems for receiving test results, especially

those that arrive by facsimile or the Internet, should be developed to ensure se-

cure storage with access only by authorized personnel.

SUMMARY

Longitudinal outcome research has shown that students who receive a basic in-

terest inventory interpretation tend to participate more in career exploration ac-

tivities than do students who have not taken an interest inventory and had it

interpreted (Randahl, Hansen, & Haverkamp, 1993). Incorporating interest in-

ventories into career counseling models provides clients and counselors with in-

formation that will assist clients to develop their potential. This is true in career

counseling as well as in selection and placement uses of interest inventories.

Whether the goal is to enhance an individual’s satisfaction with the job or the

organization’s satisfaction with the individual, knowledge of interests as one

component in career counseling can help both of these goals to be met.

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CHAPTER 13

Assessment of Needs and Values

James B. Rounds and Patrick Ian Armstrong

ORK VALUES ARE

shared interpretations of what people want and expect

from work (Nord, Brief, Atieh, & Doherty, 1990). As such, values are cen-

tral to our understanding of both the meaning of work and the reasons

that people work. This shared social reality influences the type of work people de-

sign for others to do and how people are socialized for work. Values are central to

human motivation and have a long history in psychology. Research on values can

be found in many fields in psychology, with much of the theory and research com-

ing from personality and social psychology and the more applied research coming

from organizational and counseling psychology. The development of work value

measures for career counseling comes from the traditional vocational psychology

emphasis on occupational choice and adjustment (Dawis, 1991).

It is generally assumed that values are related to an individual’s choice of a ca-

reer and work behavior outcomes. Values assessment represents an opportunity

to frame a client’s career-related decisions in the context of underlying motiva-

tions. The comparisons between an individual’s values and the rewards offered

by different occupations can provide information on what kinds of occupations to

explore. How well an individual’s values fit with an organization has implica-

tions for career management strategies. Value-organization fit may influence early

career success by contributing to mentoring relations, challenging career assign-

ments, and fast-track promotion ladders (Bretz & Judge, 1994). Values assessments

can have benefits for both the individual and organization, as individuals can

identify work values that are not sufficiently rewarded and organizations can re-

cruit employees with a close values fit.

Although work values offer potentially important information, value mea-

sures have received less research attention than measures of other individual dif-

ferences characteristics, such as interests. Few papers were published on work

values in the 1990s, and the topic of work values in many career development and

assessment textbooks is an afterthought. But this situation is not confined to career

We thank Chris Moyer for his comments on a draft of this chapter

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